BIRMINGHAM, England — American Sandi Morris won gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships on Saturday.
Morris attempted to break the world indoor pole vault record but failed in three attempts at 5.04 meters.
Morris finally got her hands on a gold medal when she broke the championship record with her third attempt at 4.95, although she faced an anxious moment with one more woman left in the competition.
"I just brought everything I had down that runway and imagined I was running into battle," Morris said, laughing. "And, oh my gosh, the feeling once I got on the other side of the bar and then when I knew I was a gold medalist, I can't even describe it."
Anzhelika Sidorova matched Morris' previous leaps but failed at her third attempt at 4.95 and finished second, ahead of Olympic and world champion Katerina Stefanidi.
"You never want to wish a miss on somebody, that's just bad luck," Morris added. "But at the same time I'm like, 'Oh I'm tired.'"
Morris was runner-up at the 2017 world championships and 2016 Olympics, plus at the previous world indoors.